The present invention relates to an apparatus that provides a wearable seat system for sportsmen. More specifically, the present invention provides a seat system with a body garment that includes an easily deployed, elevated portable seat integral to the garment.
Outdoor activities such as hunting, fishing, nature watching, wildlife photography, and the like have long enjoyed great allure for the sportsman. By definition, all such sporting activities are conducted within the natural elements, and many are often conducted over rugged terrain. Moreover, many such sporting activities involve periods of movement from one location to another, punctuated by periods of stationary activity at a given locationxe2x80x94the hunter must quietly await his quarry, the fisherman must cautiously wait for his cast bait to be sensed, the nature watcher must unobtrusively observe the target of her efforts, the wildlife photographer must stealthily record her subjects. Depending upon the particular activity in which the person is engaged, any number of movements during the day are possible, and indeed a great number of such movements may be required. Between each such movement, the outdoorsperson often is advantaged, for both rest and observation, by stationary interludes. Furthermore, the demands of such movement over such terrain often necessitate intermittent periods of rest to promote the relaxation and sense of nature that brings many to the outdoors in the first place.
For many such activities in the wild that involve periods of being stationary, the necessities of stealth encourage the sportsperson to be seated so as to present less observable profile to cautious, fearful wildlife. Indeed, much of the outdoorsman""s time spent in pursuit of his hobby is in a seated position, because such a position offers so many advantages to the objective of the sport. After all, so seated, the sportsman is less visible and obtrusive and thereby enhances his probabilities of intercepting game animals, and even in the absence of such wildlife the sportsman may more fully enjoy the relaxing experience of the great outdoors.
The great outdoors is not furnished with chairs. Without more than is naturally provided, the sportsman must sit on the earth, on fallen leaves, on a fallen tree of whatever orientation, on a tree stump of whatever height and width, or the like. Furthermore, the problem is not only one of mere discomfort. A hunter is benefited by positioning himself near naturally occurring camouflage such as bushes, thickets, or low-lying trees; nature provides no guarantee of a seat at such locations. An angler is benefited by positioning himself nearer to the fish; nature provides no guarantee of a seat at such locations. The nature watcher often attempts to blend in with the environment so as to better observe her quarry in an undisturbed state; nature provides no guarantee of a seat at an ideal location. And the wildlife photographer often wants to record game when it is unaware of the photographer""s presence; nature provides no guarantee of a seat at a location to best achieve that goal.
Ground conditions at a given location certainly cannot be predicted in advance. They may be noisy with dried tree leaves that would alert native wildlife; they may be wet with rain, moisture, or absorption from nearby water that would quickly soak the sportsman""s clothing; they may be irritating with gravel, rocks, twigs, or ground dwelling insects that would encourage fidgeting; or they may otherwise be of a character that would distract from the goal that brought the sportsman into the wild. Sitting on the ground, then, is less than ideal in many circumstances.
Sitting at ground level also disadvantageously decreases the sportsman""s field of view. Virtually every sport in the wild depends upon vision as the primary sense, and an increased field of vision heightens the experience for which the sport is pursued. Furthermore, even sitting on a mat or other type of pad at ground level has distinct disadvantagesxe2x80x94every movement rustles the underlying dry leaves that make noise that alert native wildlife, ground moisture may still manage to seep into the sportsman""s clothing and thereby cause discomfort, and underlying gravel, rocks, twigs, or ground dwelling insects are still within reach. Finally, sitting at ground level decreases the sportsman""s mobility. To turn side-to-side to aim a firearm, cast a fishing lure, sight binoculars, or point a camera, the sportsman must swivel not only his hips, but also his legs, as the entirety of his lower body is upon the plane of the ground. Clearly, such movement risks conveying alarming noise to nearby game animals. Put simply, aiming a gun or casting a fishing pole, other than to a location directly in front of the sportsman, is difficult to accomplish with any aplomb, and sighting binoculars or pointing a camera is not much easier.
Of course, to address the concerns described hereinabove, the sportsman or sportswomen might bring a seat with him or her into the field. Such a seat must be easily transportable, given the many movements that might be expected in a day""s activities. Such an implement must provide a decreased profile of the sportsman while he is seated, lest game be alerted. Such an implement must be capable of being situated at a variety of locations, inasmuch as conditions in the wild often cannot be predicted, yet advantageous positioning is desired. And such a system should provide elevation to the sportsman, to avoid the noise of movement upon dried leaves, the discomfort of absorbed water, the irritation of grating ground conditions, and so forth, and to provide an enhanced field of view, and to provide increased bodily mobility while upon it.
A seat brought into the field by a sportsman should also be configured to be easily deployed with minimal activity by the sportsman. Any such seating that required more than minimal manipulation to be deployed would increase the noise generated by the sportsman and would thereby tend to alert nearby wildlife. Additionally, outdoorsmen tend to carry with them other devices for their sport, such as firearms, fishing poles, cameras, and the likexe2x80x94they tend to have their hands full of other equipment. A seating system that allowed easy deployment without the necessity of the sportsman having to drop his other gear would provide clear advantages.
Finally, a seat brought into the field by a sportsman should also be unobtrusive to activities being conducted while the implement is being carried. As noted, such sportsmen tend to have other equipment with them, being carried through the field. A seat that only minimally, if at all, interfered with such travel would be advantageous.
Portable seating systems have been made available. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,620,227 describes a vest garment with pivotable seat member. The device includes a seating pad that, while being carried, is borne within the interior of the garment and, therefore, may chafe against the wearer. When deployed, the seat pad is connected by straps or the like to a back rest; by use of such straps, the back rest is held in place in relation to the seating member, so as to provide a support against which the user""s back may lean while so seated. Unfortunately, the device of the ""227 patent requires great manipulation of the entire garment to deploy the seating member, in that its entire length is stowed against the interior of the garment. Additionally, the device described by the ""227 patent is not disposed for easy deployment of the seating member while the user might be carrying other sporting gear in his hands or upon his shoulders. Finally, the device of the ""227 patent provides no supporting base between the seating member and the ground, so that the user is disposed to sit almost directly upon the ground and thereby have no elevated position upon which to manipulate his other sporting devices, such as guns, fishing poles, binoculars, and the like.
Another device is described in U.S. Pat. No. 1,626,166, for a seat pad for sportsmen""s coats. As disclosed, the ""166 patent describes merely a pad enclosed within a coat, for lowering from the coat so as to provide a seated positioning device. While perhaps providing comfort for the lower bony prominences while seated on gravel, rocks, or twigs, the device of the ""166 patent suffers from many of the same drawbacks and disadvantages of the device of the ""227 patent discussed abovexe2x80x94it provides only a soft cushioning member between the lower bony prominences and the supporting foundational surface, yet provides no elevation and requires its user to stir upon it for side-to-side viewing during sporting activities.
Much akin to the ""166 patent is U.S. Pat. No. 3,185,362, disclosing axe2x80x9cseat-backxe2x80x9d that appears to suffer the same drawbacks and disadvantages as the one device described in the ""166 patent.
A number of devices are described as providing back-pack systems for seating devices. Those known include the following U.S. Pat. No. 4,387,924; 6,145,716; 4,489,866; 2,843,185; 6,048,023; 5,927,798; 5,409,291; 5,318,942; 4,676,548. All appear to describe a portable seating method that may be carried upon one""s back. However, none offer a simplified structure for rapid deployment of the seating system and none offer a seating system that may be deployed without first removing the entirety of the device from one""s body. Such deployment, therefore, would require the user to drop any other sporting gear being carried in his hands, undergo the attention-drawing efforts of dismounting the system from his back, and assembling the system upon the ground for sitting, and reacquiring control of his sporting equipment (firearm, fishing pole, binoculars, camera, etc.) before resuming his enjoyment, all the while hoping that wildlife in the vicinity will be forgiving of the noise and disruption of these efforts.
The present invention relates to an improvement upon the known systems for wearable seat systems and provides distinct advantages over the known systems.
The present invention solves the problems and drawbacks identified above by providing a new wearable seat system. While this wearable seat system will be disclosed in terms of use by frequenters of the outdoors, the scope of the present invention is not limited to use by persons occupied in such sporting endeavors. Instead, the present invention may be used with any endeavor in which the need for portable, efficiently deployed, unobtrusive, elevated, stationary seating may arise during the course of physical exertion.
It is a principal object of the instant invention to provide a seat system that is integrated with a garment worn by the user and that is configured for deployment of the seat while the garment continues being so worn by the user and without prior detachment of the seat from the garment.
It is also a principal object of the instant invention to provide a seat system that is integrated with a garment worn by the user and that is configured for deployment of the seat while being so worn by the user and without the need to remove the garment prior to deploying the seat.
It is another principal object of the instant invention to provide a wearable seat system that is configured for deployment of a seating surface that elevates the user above ground level while being used.
It is a further principal object of the present invention to provide a seating system that is wearable into the field, that is unobtrusive when worn, that provides for rapid deployment of the seat while being worn, that affords a seating surface that is elevated above ground level, and that provides for ease of stowing for transport.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the following description, or may be obvious from the description, or may be learned through practice of the invention.
In accordance with an embodiment of the invention, an apparatus is provided that includes a garment for wear upon the human body. Pivotally connected to the rear of the garment is a collapsible stand. The collapsible stand is configured so as to be selectively deployable by the wearer of the garment from a first mode to a second mode while the stand remains connected to the garment and while the garment is continuously worn by the wearer. The first mode defines a collapsed storage mode, and the second mode defines an open seating mode. During the seating mode, the stand is configured for supporting the wearer of the garment above the ground in a seated position. During the storage mode, the stand is configured for essentially flat storage parallel to and against the rear of the garment. While so stowed, the seating system requires no handling by the wearer and does not interfere with movement of the wearer""s arms, hands, or legs.
The stand includes a frame and a bridge member. The frame can include a first brace and a second brace pivotally connected to the first brace. Each brace desirably includes a top beam having a pair of opposed ends. Each brace desirably includes a pair of opposed legs. Each leg depends from a different one of the opposed ends of the top beam of each of the braces. The bridge member has opposed ends, and one end engages the top beam of the first brace, and the second end engages the top beam of the second brace. A hinge member can be provided and configured to pivotally connect one of the top beams of one of the braces to the rear of the garment.
Some embodiments of the invention can include a hinge member that includes a first non-rigid substrate having a front edge and a back edge disposed opposite the front edge. In such embodiments, one of the edges of the hinge member can be connected to the rear of the garment. In such embodiments, the hinge member can include at least one anchor member, which can be provided and configured to pivotally connect the back edge of the substrate to one of the top beams of one of the braces.
Some embodiments of the invention can include a seat member connected to the back edge of the hinge member. The seat member can include a seat casing and a cushion. The seat casing can be formed as a non-rigid body that is configured to define a hollow interior cushion compartment therein. The seat casing can define a top, a bottom disposed opposite the top, and a peripheral border extending between the top and the bottom. The cushion is configured so that it can be received within the cushion compartment of the seat casing. In such embodiments, the at least one anchor member can be provided and configured to pivotally connect one of the top beams of one of the braces either to the back edge of the substrate portion of the hinge member or to the seat member.
At least one fastener can be provided and attached to the rear of the garment and configured and disposed to detachably fasten the stand (and the seat member, if any) to the exterior surface of the rear of the garment.
The collapsible stand folds against and is secured to the rear of the garment for easy transport by the wearer during periods of activity. When seating is desired or required, the apparatus provides for easy deployment of the stand, and any seat disposed on the stand, to a position beneath the wearer, while the stand (and seat) is still attached to the garment. Such deployment requires only minimal action by the wearer, who may be expected to be carrying other gear in his hands. This deployment to the open seat mode does not require the wearer to disrobe the garment, or to unbutton, unzip, or unhook the garment from his body. Instead, only the collapsible stand (and seat, if any) must be loosed from its storage mode. By its attachment to the garment, the loosed collapsible stand is positioned directly beneath the wearer for sitting. The collapsible stand includes braces with legs for elevating the wearer off the ground while the wearer is seated on the stand. Such elevation allows the user greater field of view, allows greater mobility to turn from side to side to aim a firearm, cast a fishing lure, or sight binoculars or a camera, and keeps the user""s body dry from damp or wet conditions in the field. To transition from such seating to movement, the collapsible stand easily folds back into position against the garment and may be reattached thereto.
These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will be better understood with reference to the following description and appended claims. The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate exemplary embodiments of the invention and, together with a description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.